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Today is the last day of Chanukah vacation and I am attempting to type this blog post as my four-year-old is attempting to play a game of keep away/knock over my coffee/get my undivided attention/fight with his siblings. Yes, he is doing all that at once. He is a very talented and capable child.

It is that time of year, the time of year where the collective consciousness of the country is thinking about what they have or have not accomplished this year. It’s also nearing the time when Jewish Facebook feeds will abound with memes about how we already did New Year’s three months ago. Prepare yourselves.

I like having another chance to reflect on the past year (I need as many chances to reflect as I can get), and I take this secular year end as an opportunity to reflect on the more mundane aspects of my life (though one could argue that even the mundane aspects are spiritual, etc. etc. yes it’s true but let’s not get distracted by philosophizing now).

Amazingly, wonderfully, I am still plugging away at my Bullet Journal, despite many months of only halfway engaging with it. I could have given up many times, and many times I have wondered if I even have the energy to do this or if I should just give up and buy one of the many fantastic journals that exists out there (like the Driven Day planners, which are mightily appealing).

But the thing that I like about my BuJo process is that I can constantly tweak it, make it work for me, put a lot or a little into it, so I am sticking with it. For now, at least.

The monthly layout I found in August is still working for me, so I kept that up, making some modifications.

• I expanded the tracker (which I have consistently kept up with for an average of two weeks per month, here’s hoping I can end the year with a bang and make it to at least three weeks!). My main goals this month are to be more mindful and focused with the time I spend on my computer and to recommit to a more productive morning routine.
• I added a box for upcoming events so I can easily add them to the calendar for the next month (this is kind of a supplement to my future tracker spread, which is something I find very useful, having a couple pages dedicated to the upcoming six months).
• I added a box for goals for the month.
• I kept the quote box. Finding a new quote each month is very enjoyable!

For my weekly spread I kept it very, very, verrrrrrry simple. Even though I loved the process of creating a beautiful weekly spread, I found that the calendar part was redundant, it took a long time which I don’t have right now, and I didn’t use half the pages because I got busy and distracted, so this month I’m just doing this quick and dirty layout. It’s kind of a combo of bulleted lists and keeping centered on what I need to accomplish each day.

Remember this beautiful page I created way back in August? I promised you an update, and, well, here it is (prepare to be underwhelmed): I have not kept up with this one bit! Ha! But now that I’m full of hope and energy, I’m planning to get back on track. Having it written out is certainly helpful, and I added a line on my tracker to remind myself to keep up with it.

And as the year closes out, so will I finish up this journal. I have a new, shiny one waiting in my desk drawer. Who can guess what color it is this time around? What are your BuJo goals (or just general non-BuJo related goals) for this year?